


The Last Ghoul

by heilz



Category: The Last Unicorn (1982), Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crossover, M/M, Magical Realism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-25
Updated: 2015-09-21
Packaged: 2018-04-11 02:40:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4417871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heilz/pseuds/heilz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ghouls are creatures of legend that haunt their forests and keep its inhabitants from harm. When one ghoul by the name of Ken learns of the disappearance of all ghouls, save him, he sets out on a quest to find them. However, with the impending danger of capture and murder at his heels, it will take more than blind bravery to reach the end of the earth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Quest Begins

**Author's Note:**

> If you haven't seen/read The Last Unicorn, you can definitely still enjoy this fic! But if it interests you enough, I highly recommend at least the film. (I'll admit I've never read the novel, I've only seen the adaptation, although I've been meaning to.) The rating will change with the appropriate chapters, but eh, we'll get there when we get there.  
> For detail's sake, Kaneki is actually a faun instead of a unicorn! I changed all of the creatures from the original story in order for them to display human characteristics, as you'll read in future chapters. Hope it's not too confusing!  
> Anyway, please enjoy!

The day was young. In a forest lavished in eternal springtime, two men disrupted the peaceful silence that sat above the green grass like a fog, constant and tangible. The hooves of their horses thundered heavily on the ground and the echoes of their travels followed them as they made way down a path covered with brush by years of disuse.

“Spring here…again? But sir, I daresay it’s winter back home!” the younger man commented, halting his steed to rub a leaf between his fingers as if to test its authenticity.

“Indeed…and I thought it to be nothing but a myth.”

“Sir?”

The older man halted his own horse before turning the beast around. He surveyed the rich green vegetation that surrounded him, and the distinct lack of buzz that always met the trained hunter’s ear in a forest. There was no game to be found here.

“My boy, have you not heard of ghouls?” he asked. When the boy merely shrugged in response, he sighed. “No matter. We’ll find no game in a forest haunted by a ghoul. Let us be on our way, we mustn’t linger in ghoul territory.” Before following his own orders, the man turned back around, addressing the deeper reaches of the forest.

“Stay where you are, beast! You will not do well to leave this forest, for you may just be the last of your kind! Stay here and keep your forest rich, and prosper, poor beast!” With that, the man urged his steed back around and hurried onward, following the young man who’d already left him.

A ways off, with the rustle of foliage, a strange yet beautiful being emerged from the green-black shadows of his forest. Two curled horns sat atop his head, juxtaposed against snowy hair. Below his navel, equally white fur covered his haunches and legs down to his hooves. The rest of his body was taught, pale skin, and his ghost-like presence became eerie when his blackened eyes and red irises were taken into account. In every sense of the word, the title of “ghoul” fit the creature, but he was handsome in a way that could not be understood by mankind.

“Last?” he wondered aloud to the forest-dwelling creatures that gathered around him. “What did he mean, ‘last’?” He crossed his arms at his chest. The word sounded cold and lonely; it brought a shiver round his bare body, beginning at his spine and working its way to the tips of his fingers.

He shook himself stable and began walking towards the core of the forest, where no man had ever set foot. A flat plain sat before him, adorned by wildflowers and a pond of clearest water. There he sat and ran the word over his tongue a multitude of tries, and he decided he did not like the one syllable of it.

“I cannot be the _last,_ surely. We ghouls are as old as the sky—old as the moon! We could be hunted and even killed if we leave our forests, but we know better. I can’t be the _last_ …”

Although his words sounded reassuring in their own right, the ghoul stretched back on a plush carpet of grass, one hoof dangling over the edge of the pond as he felt the beginnings of doubt and insecurity bubble up from within him. Surely the others must know what would happen if they were to leave their forests…

Suddenly, the tiny flutter of wings reached the ghoul’s sensitive ears, and he languidly brought himself upright, ready to greet whatever wanderer who had found their way into the depths of his forest. He felt a delighted smile pull at his lips when he caught sight of a beautiful grayscale butterfly, and stood to greet the creature that glided towards him.

“Hello butterfly, how are you?” he called, waving. The butterfly landed on his outstretched index finger and bowed, red eyes reflecting a benevolent sun.

As the ghoul knew he would, the butterfly broke into a singsong. “You say goodbye, and I say hello! Hello hello! I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello!”

“Butterfly, I must ask you…you are a great wanderer, yes? Have you seen many sights?” the ghoul asked, and he felt his sinister suspicions return without warning. Would the butterfly know about ghouls?

Taking flight once more, the butterfly continued in song, “I walk a lonely road, the only one that I have ever known…I’m a wanderess, I’m a one night stand, don’t belong to no city, don’t belong to no man…”

The ghoul waited patiently for the butterfly to finish his songs before he continued. He had never spoken to a butterfly before, and although he was aware of their habits of speaking in riddles and song alone, he had not expected anything this drastic. In response to his patience being tested, his curiosity burst past its limits, and he asked, “Wise butterfly, do you know who I am?”

Whimsical as ever, the butterfly swooped down to complete a loop in midair. “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine… You’re the judge, oh no! But…something whispers in my ears and says that you are not alone…”

“Not alone?” The ghoul felt his pulse quicken. “Butterfly, please! Tell me you know who I am!”

“Do you see what I see?”

“Butterfly, if you know you’ll tell me, won’t you?”

“Love me, love me, say that you love me! Oh, won’t you stay with me?”

The ghoul, defeated, felt his shoulders hunch. He turned his back to the butterfly, still in the midst of a song, and began walking away toward the tree line. He should have known better than to rely on a silly butterfly.

“I shouldn’t have expected more from—”

“A ghoul.”

The ghoul’s head snapped up, and he spun to face the butterfly once more, who’d stopped his foolish aerial dance and was now dutifully flapping in place with several limbs crossed at his thorax.

“A ghoul: the title be Arabian, in origin. In popular folklore, they are an undead or subhuman being, especially one that eats human flesh. This is simply mortal speculation, however, and many alleged ghoul attacks have been redubbed as an animal’s doing after further investigation. To those who sympathize with beasts, it is believed that ghouls do not feed at all. To those who do not believe whatsoever, a ghoul will simply appear as a human being.” A pause, and the red-eyed butterfly examined the ghoul closely. “It is with reverence that I regard a great ghoul such as yourself, Ken.” The butterfly bowed again, but without the touch of mockery this round.

“Have you seen the others?” Ken asked, feeling a wave of relief rinse away the buildup of anxiety he’d collected. “Any other ghouls at all? Do you know what happened to them?”

The butterfly uncrossed his arms at that and began fluttering about flamboyantly once more. “Oh baby, baby, have you seen Amy tonight? Is she in the bathroom, is she smokin’ up outside?”

Ken sighed, and he believed that was all he would get out of the butterfly. _Well, no matter_. What was it to him if a single butterfly had never met any other ghouls? That didn’t mean they were _all_ missing.

“I bid you farewell then, butterfly. I hope your travels find you well,” Ken said. He turned, ready to leave the content creature to his songs. Just then, however, a harsh wind began to blow, and it halted Ken where he stood.

A sharp hiss rode the hastened air. “Listen!” Ken almost turned to make sure the fragile butterfly was okay, but before he could, another hiss found him. “No, don’t listen to me, listen!” Ken paused, then closed his eyes, letting the wind speak to him.

“The ghouls passed down the roads long ago…they were driven from their forests,” the voice was entirely a low hiss, nothing at all like the butterfly’s previous trying but lovely singing tone. “They were rounded up by a ferocious being, the Blue Wolf.”

“The Blue Wolf?” Ken opened his eyes, and finally turned to face the butterfly, who’d landed. “What is the Blue Wolf?”

The butterfly seemed reluctant to reply, but all the same, the wind persisted. “The Blue Wolf serves His Majesty, the King…he gains his power at night, when the tides are heavy, and the light of the moon may touch him. He came for the other ghouls long ago, and the blue flames that surround him covered their footsteps to the end of the earth.”

_The end of the earth…_ Ken furrowed his brows. “The King? Who? What does a king have to do with the Blue Wolf? Where is the end of the earth?”

The pink light of sunset began to leak through the trees into the clearing, and as suddenly as it had begun, the wind ceased to blow. In its place came the butterfly’s singsong voice once more.

“It’s the end of the world as we know it!”

The third time was definitely the charm, and Ken didn’t see how he could get any more information out of the butterfly, seeing as he had already taken flight again and was fluttering into the sunset, contrasted against the pale pinks and oranges with his own dark silhouette. He waited until the butterfly was completely out of view before turning to see a great audience of forest-dwelling animals standing at the tree line, waiting for him to return to them.

_The Blue Wolf…the end of the earth…the King…the ghouls…_

The eyes of a small, frightened rabbit caught his, and Ken blinked at the trembling creature. Surely he had as much a duty to these animals as he did to his siblings? He couldn’t just abandon them for his own selfish purposes. He was a proud ghoul, an immortal being, wiser than any human could hope to be. And yet…

Yet the fading sunlight seemed to burn his skin and his insides churned at the thought of abandoning the ghouls he now knew to be suffering, knew to be vanished from the earth and their forests. How could he live through eternity with the knowledge that he was the last weighing on his shoulders?

His eyes returned to the small rabbit, and he issued it a small smile. “I’ll be back, little one. Don’t worry.” His words were gentle, and sounded sure upon his decision. The animals stirred a bit before a blanket of understanding overshadowed them all, and they each returned to the depths of the trees on their own time, casting final glances at the guardian of their forest.

As a new moon began rising in the early evening sky, Ken began trotting down the path the two men had followed, a path he had never found himself down before. A path that led beyond his forest into the world, and eventually, to its end. How he would get there, he had no way of knowing. But that’s where the ghouls were, and that was where he would go.


	2. Encounter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More cameo appearances, woo!

Ken was only a day into his journey when he began to question his decision of leaving.

The path he had followed had split into two a ways back, and more splits followed, some with several paths as options. Ken knew that, for someone like him, instinct was a long-forgotten memory, something that had taken hold his first couple hundred years or so of existence. The wiser, more learned he became, the less he needed to rely on instinct and, therefore, had dropped the concept altogether. So in truth, he was just grasping at straws, his hope of getting where he needed to be growing more futile with every fork in the road.

 _Am I truly the last ghoul in the world? Is that possible? What if the butterfly had just told me stories…what if those men simply didn’t know better? It wouldn’t be the first time mankind has displayed their ignorance…_ Ken stifled a sigh as he carried his tired hooves onward, one after the other, clopping heavily. He couldn’t remember a time he’d felt so fatigued.

 _No…I must do this. They must be waiting for me, waiting to be set free from this Blue Wolf…_ He clenched his fists, bringing himself back to a trot, not stopping to think at the next crossroad he found himself at. Images of a flaming blue monster fueled him, and he did not stop until a burning in his throat demanded attention.

He tasted the air, searching for moisture. He followed the scent of water down to a small stream just off the road—freshly melted snow water from a nearby mountain. He drank from it, and relished the freezing water as it seemed to spread throughout his veins and rejuvenate him. He decided to rest there for a while, and busied himself by chatting with a flock of birds who’d come to greet him.

Suddenly, the birds scattered, and Ken leapt to a stand. The stream was at the bottom of a slight decline, with the road at the top. There stood a man riding a wagon, with two exhausted mules pulling at the front.

The man stopped the mules with a harsh pull of the reigns and glared down at Ken, his lizard eyes calculating. After a moment’s hesitation, the man hopped off the cart and gestured widely to Ken.

“Hello there, m’boy! You don’t look so well off, d’you?”

Ken froze. What did this man see?

“Well, well. Can you speak, m’lad? Cat got your tongue?” As the man approached down the decline, his large and dominant features became more pronounced, and Ken knew he didn’t need instincts to feel a scratching need to get away from him.

But, all at once, the man stood just before Ken, a hungry grin plastered on sickly pale skin. His beady eyes looked Ken over with greed, and the ghoul was very suddenly reminded of why exactly he hated men.

Before the lizard-eyed man could reach out to grab him, Ken dashed to the side and brought his arms around himself, body coiled and prepared to lash. “Don’t touch me, you filthy man!”

The man chuckled. “Whoa, didn’t mean to be rude or anything! Just thought you could use some good, charitable help! Must be going _somewhere_ if you’re out in the middle o’ nowhere like this, right? Let me give you a ride.”

Ken gritted his teeth and backed further away from the man. _He sees me as a human, no doubt. He doesn’t look like someone who believes in ghouls._

As he distanced himself from the man, he caught wind of strange noises coming from the caravan. With minimal strain, Ken listened closely, only to hear other human voices coming from inside the covered wagon. Sounds of distress.

_They were driven from their forests…rounded up by a ferocious being…_

Ken shook his head, keeping his eyes trained on the ominous figure several strides away. He could easily flee now, but who were those people…?

“Who do you have inside the wagon?” Ken demanded. He did not waver from mortals; he was a ghoul. “What do you want from them?”

The man’s eyes widened before he began bellowing. His laughter seemed to shake the trees, and dead leaves scattered down around Ken in the cold winter air.

“We all gotta make a living, right, m’boy? My business is people,” the man explained when he found himself.

Ken clenched and unclenched his fists. He knew what that meant. Oh, he knew the corruption of humanity well, he did. And this man was one of the worst. Selling unsuspecting people, old or young, for debauchery. It was deplorable, and it angered Ken.

“Release them.”

The bubbling mirth fled the man’s face at Ken’s words. “Whaddya mean, ‘release them’? What can all a hundred pounds of you do? I don’t think you know where you stand in this situation here, boy.” The man paused before continuing. “You’ll fetch a fine price, so don’t be getting all proud on me. I wouldn’t wanna hurt the merchandise, but if need be…”

Ken ignored the man and climbed back up the slope, pausing in front of the two mules. With a tap to their halters, their ties dissolved, and the couple hurried away as fast as their tired legs could carry them.

“Wha—the _hell_ do you think you’re doing!”

Ken once again ignored the man, who was having a troubling climb back up the slope, and walked to the opposite side of the wagon. Metal bars greeted him, with several young humans inside, huddled together for warmth. They said nothing to Ken, but shivered silently. Pity welled up in his chest, and he felt the true chill of winter for the first time. With a tap to each metal bar, they also dissolved under the call of his magic. Widened eyes followed him as Ken backed away to handle the lizard man, who had successfully scaled the incline and was now huffing at him from a short distance.

“You—the hell are you, how’d you do that?” His now pink face reddened further at the sight of his prey escaping, but before he could make a move, Ken rushed him and kicked him flat on his back. With a twist of his ankles at the man’s neck, it snapped, and he lie motionless beneath the ghoul.

Several of the escaped humans screeched, but Ken paid them no mind. Humans were dangerous, perverse creatures by nature, but Ken couldn’t bear to see the eyes of any being dyed in despair, with no hope left to light them. Now those children could go find hope, wherever it may await them.

He stepped past the large, deceased man and continued down the snow-dusted path, his hooves aching with the weight of the road ahead of him, but not the murder he had committed. With his thirst quenched and his priorities set once more, he broke into a canter, hoping to find a clue to precisely _what_ he was looking for and _where_ it be soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that we've got some exposition out of the way, the next few chapters will be a bit longer, yaaay!  
> I hope this makes sense, b/c I'm not really going back to proofread anything, so if anyone is lost please let me know and I'll adjust this story as fit. I have no idea how confusing it could be if you aren't familiar with the story, so don't be afraid to call me out!


	3. Incarcerate, Decarcerate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Graphic (ish) depictions of violence, major character death. All that yummy stuff.

Ken wandered through many landscapes, walking, walking until the snow had disappeared from the ground and new green replaced dead grass and debris. His sore and tired muscles dragged at his weary soul, but he pressed onward through the beginning of spring. It was only when the road became hazy and unbalanced before him that he stopped to rest for the first time since he’d begun his journey.

He picked a soft patch of grass under a comfortable oak to lie down upon. He tucked his hooves underneath him and slid to the side, pillowing his head on crossed arms before he slipped into an uneasy sleep. He’d never left his forest before, let alone rendered himself as vulnerable as he was now, unconscious, but he knew he needed rest or his body would not comply with him in the near future. So he slept.

Just as his breathing evened, a long train of wagons came into view on the horizon. Slowly, they approached on the road that Ken had been following, where he now slept beside. And, with the inevitability of authenticity, the wagons stopped at the hand of a withered old man whose demeanor ensured respect from his two colleagues.

“Well, well, _well_ ,” the man chuckled. He hopped off his wagon and approached the sleeping ghoul with caution, each step muffled by an expert’s touch and aided by the grass. “ _What_ do we ’ave ’ere?” He raised an arm again and gestured for the two who stalled behind him to come forward. “Come ’ere, you two, I’ve a solution to our final empty cage!”

The two approached, one a pretty young blonde lady and the other a strange white-haired young man dressed in a wizard’s cloak.

“What are you looking at, Father Kureo?” the woman asked, glancing idly at Ken.

Kureo cackled softly. “What do you see, Akira? What do you see, lying there?”

The woman, Akira, furrowed her brows in concentration. “A boy. All I see is a boy. Why?”

Kureo narrowed his eyes and turned to the third of the group. “You, Juuzou, what do you see with your sorcerer’s eye?” Juuzou stared at Ken, eyes wide. When the boy failed to respond, Kureo grasped the collar of his robe and pulled him an inch from his face. “You incompetent wizard, tell me what you see!”

Juuzou lolled his head to the side to gaze at Ken before replying, “A boy, Father Kureo. Just a normal, sleepin’ boy.”

Kureo released Juuzou before turning back to the ghoul. “Aah, I thought as much. I really shouldn’t expect more of you two…” He scratched his head, scheming. “I want ’im for the fair. ’E’ll make a nice centaur, I think. I’d turn him into a ’ydra, but that face is far too pretty to cover up, I think. Akira, prepare the cage.”

“Yes, Father Kureo!” Akira hurried away towards one of the wagons, though upon closer inspection, it appeared to be a mobile cage. She pulled out a ring of keys and opened the door to the cage, and Kureo approached Ken, a victorious leer crinkling his old face.

“He’s wakin’ up!” Juuzou exclaimed when Ken began to fidget, no doubt sensing an ominous intent nearby. Kureo cursed.

“I’ll put a spell on ’im,” he assured, more for his sake than Juuzou’s, and hastily recanted a spell that plunged Ken into a deeper slumber. With that, he picked the ghoul up and carried it, every muscle in his body cramping and contorting to support Ken’s weight. He carefully placed him in the empty cage, and once it had been securely locked, he cast another spell on Ken, distorting his features and making his body anew, with an extra set of hooves and a matching tail.

“It’s a miracle he fits,” Akira commented, and Kureo grunted. He wished he could have kept the ghoul’s true form, but there were ghouls that looked like this as well, and if he could ensnare the hearts and minds of the fairgoers with this trick of the eye, then so be it.

Kureo turned, ready to resume their travel. They still had a ways to go before they made it to the fairground. “And I thought I’d seen the last of them…”

 

* * *

 

Ken woke to an unexpected bustle of activity. He felt sore all over, and when he tried to stand, found it odd that he could not quite catch his footing. Then, he looked down, only to feel his stomach twist at what he saw.

His white pelt had been dyed black, and he now sported the body of a horse. He finally regained control of his legs—all four of them—and stood, wobbly as a newborn colt. It was then that he noticed the distinct metal bars before him, and he rubbed his eyes tiredly.

_Men and their foolishness…_

He grasped the bars, summoning the sufficient quantity of magic to deal with the metal, but was immediately burnt and he flinched away from them. Suddenly, a rasp of a cackle cracked like a whip through the still air, and an aged man approached the cage.

“You’re mine now, you see,” he laughed, and flicked a bar with his forefinger. “The name Father Kureo may not be famous, but I do take pride in my work!”

Ken eyed Kureo as he realized what the old man was insinuating. “So you’ve made me this, I take it?”

“I’d rather not’ve,” the man conceded. “Who am I to take a ghoul and change ’is form? But you see, business is business, and I do enjoy business.”

“You know what I am?” Ken asked. He wasn’t surprised really; the man looked ancient, old enough maybe to know of other ghouls.

“I woulda known what you are as a toddler, no question as of now. The other two don’t see it, the fools. But you can’t trick me. You can’t fool my old eyes, not with everything I’ve seen in my day.”

Ken glanced around the outside of the cage at the mention of others, and noticed that there were other poor creatures entrapped in cages as he was, curved in a semicircle formation. They were animals put on for show. He, a proud ghoul, possibly the last of his kind, was going to be paraded like a common beast.

As he looked on, a blonde woman toured a large group of commonpeople around the camp. “Behold, the legendary basilisk…do not look into the beast’s murderous eyes, or the king of serpents will surely kill you! He spares none, and his overflowing venom will take care of any who dare try to escape his killer glare…” She stretched both her arms out in a pompous manner, smiling wickedly at the frightened yet intrigued onlookers. “Creatures of night…brought to light!”

Ken’s eyes narrowed. A basilisk was not what sat in that cage—a sickly python with peeling scales lie there, starved and bored. He hissed faintly at the crowd before him, and they flinched away as if they’d heard a roar. A similar disposition lie within all the cages; an eagle with a broken wing, shown off as a griffin; a runt of a bear feared as a chupacabra.

The racket of a nearby cage caught Ken’s attention, and his gaze locked with that of a creature with a powerful aura full of pure menace and magic that couldn’t be produced artificially. In that cage sat a beautiful red sphinx, crouched as if in waiting. Her crimson eyes held Ken’s long enough to communicate a deep-rooted hatred of the man standing before him, and Ken shivered under the weight of her scowl despite it not being directed at him.

“Ah, that one…” Kureo chuckled darkly, following Ken’s line of sight. “I caught ’er when she was asleep as you were. Sheer luck. ’Ad ’er for years now, but she’s always planning ’er escape. Always watching for an opening. But she won’t get it! Not now, anyway.”

Ken shook his head and stomped a hoof to the hard metal floor of the cell. “Your death sits in that cage, and you know it. Sphinx aren’t known to be forgiving, old man.”

Kureo laughed once more. The man was so full of morose humor—Ken supposed it came with age, the only concept he could not empathize with. “Oh, I know she’ll kill me one day or another. But she’ll always know in that immortal body of ’er’s that I ’eld ’er, that I kept ’er prisoner!” He sent Ken a smirk. “So there’s _my_ immortality, eh?”

“You’re mad.”

“Ah, but so are you! A lone ghoul, wandering the roads, asking for death?” Kureo scoffed. “I as good as ’elped you, I did.”

“You did not help me,” Ken replied. “Not with where I’m going.”

“Ah, but I did. Your death awaits you where you’re looking, with _that_ one.”

“‘That one’? Do you speak of the Blue Wolf? Do you know what it is, what this Blue Wolf has done with the ghouls?”

Kureo’s face crumpled into a scowl that contested with the sphinx’s. “Ay, ’course I know of the wolf of King Arima. But ’e’ll not ’ave you, not while you’re mine.”

The bustle of chatter became pronounced as Akira led the group towards Ken’s cage, and Kureo sniffed in distaste. “One day I’ll show my beasts to a real king, to a real court! And you’ll help,” he assured Ken. “Oh, you and the sphinx will make a fine pair.” With that, Kureo made haste as he stormed away to the covered wagons.

“…And this,” Akira’s feminine voice preceded her, and she bowed as she introduced Ken, “is a legendary ghoul…one of the very last in the world! Behold this creature, said to eat any man who dares stalk him as prey.”

Ken gazed upon the awed faces of a mismatched group of humans. He flicked his elongated tail, irate. These fools could not even see him for what he truly was, yet they still feared him as a ghoul? Despicable. The frailty of the human eye was truly something to wonder.

The group moved along, but one figure remained. Wrapped in a red cloak, a young man stepped toward the bars until his nose could almost slide between two of them.

“It’s sad, what Father Kureo did to you.”

Ken pawed the floor of his cage restlessly, unsure of how to digest the statement.

“I know what you are, you know. At least, I know you’re not a centaur ghoul. And this black pelt doesn’t suit you,” the man continued, reaching forward to pet Ken’s forged pelt. Ken backed away just enough to be out of reach of the strange man, who simply smiled in response. “I’m Juuzou, a magician. I’d help you escape, but y’see, I can’t do any real magic.”

An old tale telling of what a magician’s true magic briefly came to mind, but then the boy continued his introduction and the recollection eluded him.

“Father Kureo seeks fame and you brought him closer to it,” Juuzou said, flopping down on the ground to sit cross-legged. “A real sphinx and a real ghoul.”

“Do you also know of the Blue Wolf? Of this King Arima your Father Kureo speaks of?” Ken asked, suddenly intrigued by the man’s insight at such a young age.

“Oh, I know of both. And I know why you’d be lookin’ for them.”

Ken nearly grabbed the bars again in surprise. This could be his chance. “You know, then! Tell me, tell me what I can do to find the ghouls, where I can find the Blue Wolf!”

Juuzou smiled and hopped back to his feet. “I will, I will! But first, let’s get you outta there. Seems cramped, with four leg’s and all.”

“You can get me out with magic?” Ken asked despite knowing the answer. If he couldn’t use his own magic on the bars, certainly no human could, no matter how seasoned the wizard be.

Juuzou winked at him. “Can’t do that, but I _can_ nab those fine keys from Akira when she’s sleepin’. Sleeps hard as a rock.”

Ken nodded, grateful for the aid. “Thank you.”

Juuzou smiled in reply. It wasn’t every day a human was granted the honor of being thanked by a ghoul, and he responded appropriately with a bow.

Hours later, when the sun had set and the moon was rising, the metallic song of metal keys snapping against their twins in dance echoed across the yard. Ken fidgeted where he stood, cramped in the cage too small for a horse’s body, let alone one conjoined with a ghoul’s.

“Quickly,” Ken urged Juuzou, and the man quickly tried what seemed to be every key on the ring until one of them fit. The heavy lock clicked open, and Ken burst out of the door. His mutated body reverted to its natural form, white and pure.

Juuzou’s expression lit up as a big smile overtook him, and Ken thanked him once more. Now that he was free, he looked upon the cages of the other poor animals disguised as beasts and felt a cold weight pull at his heart. He knew what he had to do.

The white-haired boy followed Ken as he made his way around the yard, touching each lock and breaking them effortlessly, effectively freeing its captors. Juuzou gasped at each successful use of magic. When Ken finally came to face the sphinx’s cage, a new set of footsteps could be heard entering the clearing, and both Ken and Juuzou turned to see Akira gaping at the two of them before she gritted her teeth and erupted in a rage.

“You conniving little son of a bitch!” Akira screamed as she jumped at Juuzou. Juuzou met her halfway and they began wrestling in the clearing.

With the two mortals busy, Ken returned his gaze to the sphinx, who was watching him with a predator’s eye.

“ _Yes_ …you _know_ as well as I do that I _must_ be freed,” the sphinx crooned. Ken was much too old to fall for her lulling speech, but he knew he did have to free her. He could not bear to leave her to Kureo—to be celebrated for her eternity as a party favor. “We are _siblings_ , _you_ and _I_ …”

Slowly, Ken reached for the lock. As soon as his fingers touched metal, the sphinx roared and bounded out of the cage, free at last.

For a moment, it seemed like she was going to charge Ken, but her attention was diverted when a scathing cackle sounded from the wagons across the yard.

“Not alone! You two could never ’ave freed yourselves alone!”

The sphinx roared again, her sights set on Kureo now. She pelted towards him, and he held his arms open wide as if he expected her to meet him in an embrace. “Never forget, beast, that _I ’eld you_!”

Ken began walking as the shrieks began, and the unmistakable sound of spilled blood filled his ears as he did. The iron scent followed, along with the echoes of snapped bones and crushed life. He walked slowly and deliberately. Before he could reach the edge of the clearing, Juuzou joined him, having escaped his scuffle with Akira, who by then was also screaming, but not at Juuzou.

“Shouldn’t we run?” Juuzou asked him, and before he could turn to watch the gory scene they left behind, Ken shook his head.

“Never run from anything immortal, it attracts their attention. It’s a game to her,” he explained. “Never look back, and never run. Those are the entertaining ones, and we don’t want to look appealing to her. It would be the last thing we would ever be.”

Juuzou nodded. “Ah.”

They disappeared without a trace, the sphinx’s hungry crimson eyes ready to attack whatever else dared challenge her unforgiving wrath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I probably abused the living shit out of so many adjectives in this chap, lmao. I'll go back and edit it. One day. It's 3 am over here okay SOMEONE pls put me out of my misery ///:


	4. Comrade

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rich text isn't working for me for some reason so i didn't upload it until i was finally up to editing it in HTML bc i'm a lazy ass. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy! As always, this top quality bs was written at the wee hours of the morning & lack real edits.

“So…tell me about the Blue Wolf.”

Ken leapt with lithe precision atop several stones that protruded from a wide, blue stream. The flame-like ripples reminded him of the beast’s form in his mind’s eye. The image startled him, and he struggled at the last stone to keep his balance. He wanted—needed—to know about the creature to a desperate extent, but that didn’t keep the chill of fear at bay.

Juuzou hummed as he thought. “Well, I’ve heard all sorts of things about him. I’ve heard that he goes down to a different village of King Arima’s kingdom every full moon and eats children. I’ve heard that he used to be a man, but was cursed by the king himself. I’ve even heard he holds the king prisoner in his own castle. There are all kinds of rumors to spread…”

“And this King Arima?” Ken asked. He waited patiently at the opposite bank of the stream for Juuzou to cross. The boy wasn’t entirely coordinated, but he had a strange, elegant way of moving that seemed to fool even Ken’s eternal eye. Once he’d successfully bounded across the stepping stones, they continued walking, and Juuzou continued his recollections.

“Well, the legends say the land of his kingdom used to be rich and fertile. A bountiful place full of opportunity, you know? But once he set foot in the land, it became a barren wasteland, and the people who lived here lost their fortune. Now they just live off the land as best they can, tryin’ to stay alive.” Juuzou giggled. “He doesn’t seem like the _happiest_ man alive.”

“So the Blue Wolf…belongs to King Arima, in a way?” Ken wondered aloud. “Could that mean the king has them, then? Could he have the ghouls?”

Juuzou shrugged as he sped up to fall into step beside Ken. “I don’t know when or why the Blue Wolf would’ve taken the ghouls, but I think our best bet is to find King Arima’s kingdom. Then we can rush his castle and find the ghouls!” The naïve trill in Juuzou’s voice elicited a flick of Ken’s tail, which silenced the man.

They continued a ways, with only the sounds of their footsteps to fill the otherwise soundless void they’d forged. Ken allowed Juuzou to wordlessly guide him when they met forks and crossroads, and to his disbelief, they rounded back to the same stream they’d crossed the day before. 

“This…” Ken glared at Juuzou. “Where _are_ we, Juuzou?”

The boy laughed. “Ah, I know what we did! See, we took a wrong left somewhere back there. Let’s just head back. I know where we’re goin’, I swear!”

Although Ken was ageless and wise beyond the years of any man, he believed Juuzou, and sure enough, their path changed as they continued, leading them into a dark wood that looked as if sunlight had forgotten about it. Everything was rotting, and there was no buzz that inevitably accompanied life, not even the whisper of a breeze. Ken felt a shiver course through his entire body. Something was off about these woods. Juuzou, however, retained his cheery demeanor, and hummed as they walked.

“Are you sure this is the right way?” Ken asked. He was not afraid, but put off in a way he hadn’t been in a long time. 

“Yeah, of course!”

Suddenly, as if by apparition, the sound of hooves on earth erupted from behind them. Ken heard it first, but it was Juuzou who shoved him and urged him to flee.

“Run! They’re bandits, I’ve heard about them! Hide, now! They’ll skin you alive if they find you!” The boy saluted him, then made haste at that and began climbing a nearby tree. Ken trotted a ways away and hid behind a large oak that covered him in thick shadows. 

He still had a clear view of the road, and of Juuzou’s hiding spot. The roaring thunder of hooves advanced, and soon enough, a band of rogues galloped into sight. Ken narrowed his eyes when they slowed to a stop, between where Ken and Juuzou were hiding. 

“Hey, you guys smell somethin’?” one man asked. He had a pot belly, and a large moustache. He looked rough and worn. 

A few of the other men tried the air with their noses. “Yeah, yeah I do! Smells kinda meaty if you ask me,” another man replied; he was scrawnier than the rest, and had no facial hair to present.

Ken peeked his head around the oak slightly more. He wanted to get a better view of the newcomers, supposedly the bandits Juuzou had fretted about. They looked weak, and Ken was sure he could take care of each of them at the same time with his eyes closed. Still, Juuzou was in danger on his own, he supposed. Lost in thought, he scanned the group without interest until his gaze locked with that of a young man at the very back of the pack. Ken froze. There was no mistaking it; the man, sporting several facial bruises under locks of blond hair, was looking at him. 

“Hey, hey, what do we got here?” the fat man bellowed. Ken wrenched his gaze away from the boy to watch as the man pulled a seething Juuzou from his tree. “What’s this, what’s this?”

“Let go of me!” Juuzou snarled, and he writhed in the man’s grip, but even from a distance Ken could tell there was no getting out of that iron-like hold. He pulled Juuzou to sit in front of him in his saddle, the boy’s wrists held at his back with one hand. 

“These are a magician’s robes…hm…should we take him back to camp, boys?” he asked. Several of the men groaned, while others grunted a very passive agreement. Ken looked at the boy, who said nothing—he was still staring at Ken, as if in a trance. 

“Should just eat him here, what’s the difference…” the scrawny man mumbled. No one seemed to hear him but Ken and the fat man.

“Ah, but he could prove to be a kind of entertainment for us! What say you, magician? Feel like doing a bit of magic to earn your keep? Er, your life, I guess I should say!” He laughed at his own tasteless humor, and a few of the other men joined him.

Juuzou, to Ken’s surprised, started laughing as well. “Alright, alright, you caught me. And now you want me to play with you before you kill me?” His laugh then progressed to a cackle, eyes wide. “That sounds like fun!”

Juuzou’s enthusiasm startled the bandits, and the fat man’s smile melted like old butter. “Well, anyway. Let’s head on back, boys!” At his signal, the group turned their steeds around, all except for the one blond man. 

“Are you deaf?” the scrawny man shouted vehemently over his shoulder. Apparently, he too had sensed the man’s lack of compliance. “That means you too, Hideyoshi! C’mon!”  
“My bad,” Hideyoshi returned, and guided his horse in the direction of the retreating herd. He cast one final glance at Ken, who was still watching him with piqued curiosity. He had said nothing about Ken. Could he possibly know what Ken was? Did he see more than just a fragile human boy in the shadows?

Ken uncovered himself from the underbrush when the group was finally out of sight but within earshot. He then followed their now-pronounced scent and the vibrations of their steeds as he tracked them off-road. He broke into a canter, and found that his interest in the man Hideyoshi matched his sense of obligation to reclaim Juuzou. He couldn’t have his guide dying on him, no matter how useless the magician was turning out to be. 

_But maybe,_ he thought as the crackling smell of fire neared, and the drone of conversation seeped through the darkness, _you’ve just become attached._  
Ken nearly laughed at his own wit. _Right._

He neared what he assumed to be the rogues’ camp, and he slowed to a trot, then to a walk. He took to hopping from shadow to shadow as the flicker of flames penetrated the blackness. He crouched a good ten or so horse lengths away, covered in blankets of foliage that could mask even his stark white appearance. He listened. 

“…Magician, eh?” A short, stout man was appraising Juuzou, who was now tied at the wrists, knees and ankles in rope. “Well, you’ll have to stay for dinner with us, great wizard! Do tell us your name, perhaps we’ve heard of you!”

“Juuzou Suzuya,” Juuzou replied. His voice lilted mockingly, and Ken knew that Juuzou wouldn’t care whether the men had heard of him or not. 

The stout man sighed and scratched at his whiskers. “Hmm…oh, oh wait! Juuzou, did you say?” He broke into a laugh, and he turned to address his men. “You boys have caught the only immortal fool to ever try to become a magician! Cheers to that!”

Ken blinked. _Immortal?_ Ah, so that was it. Wizardry was impossible for immortal human beings—so was the nature of the curses such people wore, so that they could not reverse such dark magic. Ken wondered if Juuzou had asked to become immortal, or if it had been set upon him without his consent. Either way, he understood now the reason why Juuzou could not perform magic like he so wished to.

Juuzou merely shrugged in the face of his adversaries. He seemed calmed now—or bored. He wasn’t cackling anymore, that was obvious. “I’m sure I’ll taste just as bland as any other human being,” he said. He flicked a quick look at the bushes Ken was nestled in, and when he faced the fire once more, he was smirking. 

“Ah, but my dear wizard! We cannot let you die if you don’t at least show us a _bit_ of your magic! C’mon lad, be a sport!” The stout man clapped Juuzou on the back before perching himself on a rotting log. “It won’t be rat soup again tonight, boys, that’s for damn sure!”

Finally, Ken decided he’d had enough. The men were boring him; cannibalism was ugly, anyway, and he wanted no part of it. He leapt from the bushes and dashed for Juuzou. He heard the blurred cries of men as he touched the ropes, subsequently tearing them clean of their hostage. He then made a break for the path in which he’d come, with Juuzou at his heels. It was all too sudden for any of the men to even consider mounting their horses and giving chase, and by the time they did, he and Juuzou would be long gone—with any luck at navigation, of course. 

They made it back to the road in half the time it took for the men to ride to camp. Ken was surprised that Juuzou had kept up with him, as he would have carried the magician if he lagged. But the boy’s surprising athleticism surpassed his expectations outright. 

Before they could resume their trek down the forest road again, this time at a heightened gait, a man burst out of the surrounding darkness with his horse. Ken prepared to jump him until he caught the flash of blond hair that belonged to the man standing in the way of him and his quest.

“You—you’re a ghoul,” the man panted. He hopped off his horse and approached the two immortal beings, his steps weighted with caution but his eyes bright with wonder. “And I thought they didn’t exist…”

Ken pawed at the ground. The novelty of being the last ghoul was wearing thin. “Look, you can either let us pass or I can snap your neck. Choose quickly, we don’t have much time.”

Hideyoshi chuckled—not in a Juuzou kind of way, but a way that was rather endearing, circumstances notwithstanding. “Or I can join you, wherever it is you’re going.”

“Join us?” Ken echoed. He glanced at Juuzou, who was looking the man over with an expression of indifference that bordered on acceptance at the slight arch in his brows. _So Juuzou wouldn’t have a problem with it…_

“I don’t really have much left to me here,” Hideyoshi continued. “Consider me in your debt, if you take me.” He bowed deeply to them both, and Ken clicked his tongue. If the man knew how to respect a ghoul, then surely he wouldn’t be a horrible addition to his twosome. He might even know how to navigate through these loathsome woods.

Ken nodded. “All right. But only if you can get us out of this damn forest,” Ken conceded. “I’m sick of relying on _him_ to make imperative decisions.” He tilted his head toward Juuzou, who simply laughed.

Hideyoshi beamed. “Of course!” He remounted his horse, and just as simply, Ken had gained another follower on his quest for the ghouls.

 _And with any luck, I won’t regret it,_ Ken mulled, following the man called Hideyoshi down the road and, eventually, back into the land lit by the sun.


	5. The Blue Wolf

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this update is long overdue - sorry about that.

Several days had passed since the addition of one Hideyoshi to the travelling variants and their flight from the dark forest. Everything had gone downhill from there, from wading through raging rivers to scaling steep inclines, only to brave steeper drops in order to continue onwards. The complaints came in abundance one morning.

“Are we _there_ yet,” Juuzou groaned, back hunched and heels dragging. Hideyoshi’s mount mirrored Juuzou in stature; Ken was impressed that it could still function with its head hanging so low.

Hideyoshi, with determination set in the creases his brows made, waved Juuzou off. “Not much longer, I’d assume.”

“You said that _two days_ ago.”

Ken battled briefly with the urge to roll his eyes and trotted forward, matching his stride to that of Hideyoshi’s steed.

“This _is_ the right way…?” he asked, glancing at the man. He smiled warmly down at Ken.

“I can assure you it is. But the King’s castle is known to all as the end of the earth—as you’ve seen, it’s nothing of an easy journey to make.”

_The end of the earth._

Ken shivered and dropped back behind Hideyoshi and Juuzou, who both continued, unbothered. They knew what Ken was searching for; Juuzou by intuition and Hideyoshi by explanation earlier on in lieu of an initiation. But only Ken could know the terror of being the last of his kind—of being the last ghoul in existence on the earth. The primal fear of extinction by whichever means the King took was real, and it held Ken’s mind captive. Death was not a concept to covet, especially by creatures who were meant to live eternally.

Suddenly, the trio finally crested the hill they’d been scaling, and the view from their height was gloriously hideous. Blackened landscapes rolled out to the horizon where a thin, spiraling, demented tower-like castle stood, the sea covering all else beyond that point. The scenery was such that even a gentle touch by the sunset’s pink rays could not fix whatever had been done to it.

“There was a myth that was spread as gossip among housewives,” Hideyoshi said, “that everything King Arima touched turned hard and black under his fingers. They said he could kill a man with a single glare if he wished to.” A hard line formed at his lips as he pressed them together. Worry billowed off of him in waves. “I wonder if it could be true.”

Ken shook his head and continued forward, down the other side of the slope. “There’s no time for that now. If you do not wish to follow, then so be it, and by all means stay. But I will go.” Ken flicked his tail and bit his tongue before he could continue with the words that clogged his throat, begging to be said and heard. _I have to._

Nonetheless, or rather _inevitably,_ Hideyoshi and Juuzou followed silently behind Ken. Three makeshift musketeers couldn’t do much separate; it only seemed fair that if fate pulled them together, they would see their journey out to the very end, wherever it may lead them.

They picked their way past burnt remnants of forestry, and Ken felt the strong pull of lamentation ache loudly in his chest. He couldn’t help but wonder who this forest belonged to—was it a ghoul? Had they been the first of many to disappear over the years, disappearing while Ken lived in the ecstasy of ignorance? He curled his arms around himself, keeping pace but shrouded in misery. He didn’t want to fail his kind. He didn’t want to do this, either. He didn’t want to be a savior, but he had to be. He wouldn’t let his tale end in tragedy.

Soon, the sun finally completed its full course and disappeared under the distant earth. The rising moon dyed the blackened land gray and blue, as if it’d been bruised. Ken signaled to Juuzou and Hideyoshi, who had lagged further behind than the ghoul expected. They were all exhausted, and it was reassuring to know that King Arima’s castle was only another day’s worth of travel away.

Ken led the two to a small clearing under the scarce comfort of barren, dead trees that seemed to have huddled together in their likeness. He lowered himself to his knees, then his arms, and curled sideways on the uncomfortable crunch of dry grass. Hideyoshi dismounted and tied his horse to a tree while Juuzou shed his cloak, fell to the ground and covered himself with it as a blanket. Hideyoshi was better off, and pulled out a roll of thick, soft fabric from its tie at the saddle and swathed himself in it as he too hit the ground.

Within minutes, all were asleep.

As the moon approached its peak, Ken woke to the sound of dead foliage snapping. The sound came to his ears in rhythm, as if it sounded under the beat of an animal’s gait.

Suddenly, in a burst of blue flame and a roar that chilled Ken to his hooves, a great wolf leapt through the barrier of dead trees and into the clearing. A flame caught, and within moments the clearing was surrounded by a ring of blue fire.

Hideyoshi and Juuzou leapt to their feet, each ready to defend themselves and each other, but the wolf had eyes only for Ken. Its dark eyes gleamed with desire as Ken turned and fled without hesitation, galloping through and past the fire that was meant to trap him without thought.

The wolf gave chase. In his weakened state, Ken could only exert himself so much. The toll of his journey had finally caught up to him, and it had at the worst possible moment. He stumbled over dead roots and found his gallop to be more of a canter, then a trot that finally trickled into a humbled walk. The wolf caught up to him in seconds, and Ken knew that he was facing his destiny. That he’d failed.

The wolf cut off every means of escape left to Ken—the path back to the burning clearing, the river he could throw himself into to escape the beast. Every time he made a move that didn’t progress towards King Arima’s castle, he was deterred by force and left with only despair to comfort him.

Unbeknownst to him, however, Hideyoshi and Juuzou had followed him on horseback and were watching from a distance, panicked and afraid.

They dismounted, and Hideyoshi burrowed his knuckles into the neckline of Juuzou’s robes, pulling him close. “You have to help him!” he yelled over the howl of the wind and wolf. “If you were a real magician, you’d save him!”

“I _can’t_!” Juuzou screamed, looking from the devastated ghoul who was allowing himself to be corralled and conquered to the wetted eyes of Hideyoshi. “I can’t do magic, it won’t let me! I can’t control magic any more than you can!”

“Then _don’t_ control it, just save him!” He shoved Juuzou away, and he fell to the ground on his hands and knees.

He couldn’t bear this. He couldn’t watch Ken be swallowed by the disappearance that took all the others. Taboo or not, Juuzou felt his insides twist at the thought of letting Ken die because magic failed him.

_If the magic wasn’t for me…_

Magic was selfless. So maybe he could be, too.

He stood and closed his eyes, detaching himself from the pain of seeing Ken as he was. He let the wind guide his fingers in movement, and before he knew what he was saying, he was pleading aloud for magic to do as it would. For magic to save the last ghoul left to man.

Suddenly, his body filled with the essence of all things supernatural, and just before he felt as if he would burst, magic poured out of him through the tips of his fingers, steadily and sure. It was only after the sensation of conducting magic left him did he open his eyes, wonder filling them as he smiled, then began cheering for his own cunning and strength. As he did so, Hideyoshi rushed to Ken’s side, who had fallen and was lying on the ground before the Blue Wolf.

What Hideyoshi saw up close shocked him.

The ghoul’s lower body, once covered in a proud, coarse white coat of fur, was now undeniably skin. Pale legs ending in feet had replaced the only ghoul facet that differentiated beast from man. His hair, white only a moment ago, was now as black as the scorched earth he lay on. Naked and vulnerable, the last ghoul on earth breathed his first breath as a mortal human being.

“Ken…” Hideyoshi felt rage and pity well up from within him, but even as a storm readied itself to be unleashed upon whoever did this, he watched in awe as the Blue Wolf shook its magnificent fiery pelt and stared at Ken, baffled. He sniffed the new human and sneezed in distaste, and it appeared that the beast came to the conclusion that the ghoul was gone and he had no reason of staying. He turned and bounded away, setting the torched trees around him aflame once more.

Juuzou was at their side a moment later. “Hideyoshi, did you see that? I—”

“Did you do this?” Hideyoshi whirled on Juuzou, who was then looking at Ken, mouth agape. “Did _you_ bestow him this terrible fate?”

It took Juuzou a few moments to answer. “I didn’t—I saved his life! The Blue Wolf woulda killed him had it not been for me and the magic I directed! We’re all still alive because the magic had its way, the magic did as it wished! I am but a humble conductor—I’d love to say I did it all, but the magic is what did the savin’!”

“You turned him _human_!”

“ _I_ didn’t do anythin’!” Juuzou snapped. “I mean, I wish I _coulda_ done somethin’, but the only way I’m able to do magic is if I let it have its way. I can’t use it for my own wishes.” He shrugged, glancing from Ken to the burning trees. “And this is the way the magic thought it was supposed to be. The Blue Wolf won’t go after a human. He searches for ghouls.”

“Well, we’re safe now,” Hideyoshi prompted, “so change him back.”

Juuzou sighed and closed his eyes. But after a full minute without even the slightest iota of a trill rippling through him, he reopened them and shook his head. “I can’t. The magic’s gone now.”

Suddenly, Ken groaned. He brought a hand to his up and kneaded his forehead with his knuckles as he slowly opened his eyes.

“What…?”

He glanced from Hideyoshi to Juuzou, and then to his naked and human self. He stared for moments on end before he recoiled from Hideyoshi’s comforting touch, back into the dry bark of a nearby tree.

“What—what have you done to me?” Ken cried, staring at his legs as he pulled his new knees to his chin. “What have you done to me!”

“Ken—”

“Stop!” Ken held his hands up to hide his face as Hideyoshi and Juuzou approached. “You should have let the Blue Wolf have me!” Both men didn’t have to look at Ken to know he was crying. Tears audible in his voice, he continued, “You should have left me with the sphinx!”

Hideyoshi rushed forward to wrap his arms around Ken, who neither rejected nor embraced the warm touch.

Juuzou stepped forward. “Ken, it was all I could do to save you.”

“Save me? _Save me?_ You’ve killed me! I can feel this body dying all around me!”

“Ken…” Hideyoshi whispered. He swept dark bangs away from his eyes to see eyelashes damp with human tears.

“I’m a ghoul! Not a human, a ghoul…” He burrowed into the crook of Hide’s neck then, and sobs wracked his small frame for some time.

Hideyoshi sat and did all he could to calm Ken through the touch of a friend while Juuzou fetched clothing from Hideyoshi’s saddlebags. He returned with Hide’s mare and they both clothed Ken, who wouldn’t look at either of them. They helped him onto the horse and waited until he spoke again.

“We’re going to King Arima’s castle.”

“But Ken—”

“This could be advantageous,” Ken continued as if Juuzou had never spoken. “The king won’t know I’m a ghoul. We can find the ghouls and escape with them, and he’ll be none the wiser.” He bit his lip, and Hideyoshi took it upon himself to voice Ken’s unspoken fear.

“What if you can’t return…?”

Ken shook his head. “I…I don’t know.” _For once, I don’t have the answer. I don’t know what to do. Is this what being human is? I’m not sure of myself anymore. What do I do?_

“But we _are_ going to King Arima’s?” Juuzou asked.

Ken nodded. “If I do know anything now, it’s that we must finish what we started.” He closed his eyes and wiped them of their tears. If it was for the sake of every ghoul to be freed for the price of him living and dying as mundanely as any other human, then so be it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i changed some of juuzou's dialect with a few words at the end, but i'm too lazy to go through everything and edit it to be seamless. sry.  
> thanks for reading!!


	6. Ennui

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back...again!

The final stretch of the journey that had seemed endless was liberating for all but one member of the piteous trio. Ken’s human feet dragged in a way that his once-proud hooves never had. Newfound toes ached, and he found himself clenching and stretching them reflexively atop Hideyoshi’s mare.

Finally, they came within a hundred strides of King Arima’s castle, halted by the tree line that denied them further concealment. Two guards could be seen standing watch at the entrance that looked like the gaping mouth of some ageless demon that had been rotting for centuries.

“What do we do…?” Juuzou wondered aloud in a brief moment of pure concentration.

“We can’t just say he’s the last ghoul on earth, here to set his fellow ghouls free,” Hideyoshi added. He crossed his arms tightly, and his brow creased.

Ken wanted to roll his eyes, but couldn’t summon the energy to. These guards had obviously been disconnected from any type of society for some time now— _meaning_ they were very much out of the social loop. They were the perfect environment for a lie to fester and gain false authority.

“I am the young lord of a newly established nearby kingdom, here to develop relations with King Arima to assure consensual peace,” Ken said. Hideyoshi and Juuzou regarded him in awe.

“Wait—so you’re Lord Ken?” Juuzou asked. “Like, no offense or anythin’, but there’s no pop to it. Ya know?” His eyes widened and he imitated an explosion with his hands. “It’s gotta _pop._ ”

Ken, surprisingly, nodded his agreement. “It’d be better to have aliases. That might make it easier to act less familiar, seeing as you two are my _humble_ servants.”

Juuzou’s brow furrowed while Hideyoshi smiled and shook his head.

“What do ya mean, _humble—_ ”

“What about…” Hideyoshi hummed, deep in thought once more. “You’ll need a last name. Something grand, but not _so_ memorable.” He began pacing, all the while throwing periodic glances Ken’s way. Finally, after what could’ve been hours of pacing, he stopped. “Haise.”

Ken raised a brow, taking in the name. “Haise…”

“Haise Sasaki.”

“Sasaki?” Ken repeated. After a moment’s consideration, he continued, “Well, it _does_ meet your requirement of being ‘grand, but not so memorable.’” He closed his eyes and repeated the name. “It’s good enough.”

Hideyoshi took a servant’s bow. It was Juuzou who piped up next.

“Wait, what if they ask you what kingdom you come from?”

Ken turned to Hideyoshi. “Any towns of note that you’ve raided with the bandits we could use?”

Hideyoshi shrugged. “A few. The first one that comes to mind is Anteiku—small, but large enough to build a kingdom out of. I’ll bet Arima’s never heard of it.”

Nodding, Ken reviewed, “All right then. I’m Haise Sasaki, from Anteiku. Sophisticated, but not extravagant. Thank you, Hideyoshi.”

“Maybe we should have nicknames,” Juuzou said. He looked to Ken, who shrugged.

“Sure, if you want.”

“I think ‘Hide’ would be good enough,” Hideyoshi said. “It’s easy to remember, since we’ll have to remember ‘Haise Sasaki’ the entire time we’re here.”

Juuzou nodded. “I’ll be Juu, then.”

Ken flexed and stretched—again. “So, we’ve made our preparations. Let’s go in and see it through.” He tapped the mare’s sides and she pulled herself to a walk with Juuzou and Hideyoshi following close behind. The image of the two guards became larger and the reality of Ken’s fairy tale found purchase in his head, heavy and banging on all sides. He’d never had a headache before.

The two men linked their spears in an “X” as the three wanderers under the guise of a sophisticated noble and his servants approached. “Halt,” one called. “State your business.”

Ken’s head was going to burst. He locked gazes with Hideyoshi, who read the tiniest hint of mortal fear and pleading in the former ghoul’s expression perfectly. In any case, it wasn’t a prince’s place to speak with castle guards.

“We have business with King Arima,” Hideyoshi assured. “This is Lord Haise Sasaki, from the land Anteiku. We sent a letter encasing the details of our visit months ago.”

The two guards exchanged glances. “I see,” one replied. “We’d have to check with King Arima to be sure, but—”

“My good sirs, have you forgotten that Lord Haise has traveled many days to get here?” Hideyoshi cried, gesturing to Ken with vigor. “How unchivalrous of you men to make my lord wait even another _moment_ after such a feat. If you must consult with your king of the authenticity of our long journey, then perhaps we shall take our business elsewhere.”

The guards exchanged another glance, then turned back to the three. “Uh—our deepest apologies, my good lord. We meant no disrespect—”

Ken cut them off with a flick of his wrist, and the two parted to make way for Hideyoshi’s mare to enter the mouth of the demon first.

One guard followed, then accelerated his pace to assist Ken off the mare and hand it to a groom who was at the ready. He then led Ken up what seemed to be several hundred flights of stairs, wearily and painstakingly making their ascension to an ill-placed throne room.

At the top of the climb sat a large, wooden door that looked as if it used to be a magnificent monument to who sat inside, but now rotted in neglect. The guard bowed and pushed with all his might on the door, which creaked open with miniscule give.

Once the opening was wide enough to fit Ken through, he entered, and he was finally met with the man he had already decided to loathe. King Arima sat atop a throne adorned with cobwebs and dust, his bespectacled gaze assessing Ken in a mere instant; Ken watched as he did the same for Hideyoshi and Juuzou.

“And who may you be?”

His voice was deep and filled the room as his words echoed along blank, cold stone walls. It chilled Ken, and nearly sent a shiver down his spine.

“This is Lord—”

“If he is your lord, then let him speak for himself to me.” Arima didn’t snap as he interjected—his tone remained monotonous, and his eyes didn’t wander from where they were locked with Ken’s.

Slowly, Ken bowed to the king, every fiber of his living body burning and aching to lunge at the man’s throat—he nearly blanched at the sensation. He’d never felt hate before. How did humans daily survive such wretched emotions? “I am Lord Haise Sasaki, Your Majesty. Here to acquire relations.”

“Relations to what?”

“My country, Your Majesty. A land called Anteiku.”

Silence met Ken’s ears, but he dared not look back up until he was permitted. His back ached and his eyes stung, but he held fast to his dignity.

“I see. You may rise.”

When Ken stood, he noticed a figure standing at the only window the room held, facing the sea. It was a young man, taller than Ken was, who exuded a unique combination of delicate culture and hero’s masculinity. The man met Ken’s gaze, who quickly looked away.

Arima seemed to notice the man’s presence as well, and he ushered him closer. The man obliged and stood before the king. “This is my son, Shuu. If his presence becomes a nuisance, feel free to notify me.” He watched Ken as he spoke, who forced his eyes to glare impassively, his lips to remain straight in an illusion of disinterest.

Even so, he couldn’t help the stray thoughts that wandered through his mind, such as the fact that this Shuu looked absolutely nothing like Arima. The fact that he looked like he would smell something wondrous if he came close to him. The fact that his eyes were soft, as soft as his—

“And you are in company with your lord?” Arima asked, and Ken was freed from thoughts that were definitely better left in the further reaches of his mind.

Juuzou stepped forward, to the raise of one kempt eyebrow. “I’m a freelance magician, Your Majesty. I’d be willin’ to entertain you for the duration of our stay…”

As Juuzou spoke, Ken made his way to the window that was calling him over. The ocean below churned in a dance of woe, and Ken felt his sorrows attempt to pull him through the glass and into the water to drown his own misery.

“Magician?” Arima repeated. “I already have one of those.”

“Ah, but Your Majesty, surely you could use another—a good cook,” Juuzou gestured wildly to Hideyoshi, desperate to keep Arima’s fading interest. They had to find a reason to stay longer than simply an establishment of relations.

“Who's your magician, Your Majesty?” Juuzou pushed further, trying to find an opening. Maybe he’d heard of the magician.

“Her name is Touka. She is a master of magic, truly,” Arima praised, and as he snapped his fingers a cloud of deep violet smoke appeared, and a woman unfolded herself in midair amidst the smoke to touch lightly on the ground and bow her submission to the king.

“Your Majesty,” she greeted. “What would please you today?”

Arima gestured to Juuzou. “This man says he wishes to overtake your position.”

Touka turned, and her gasp tugged Ken’s attention away from the sea. “Juuzou!”

“Ah, so you are acquainted.”

Touka broke into a cackle. “ _Juuzou_ wants to take my place as _King Arima’s_ magician? What audacity!”

Juuzou clenched his fists, but remained silent. Hideyoshi seemed to be angrier than him, however, and stood forth.

“Laugh all you want, but you’re _obviously_ not making your king happy with whatever you’re doing right now,” Hideyoshi said. “Just look at him! He looks like he hasn’t laughed in _centuries—_ ”

“Shh, Hide!” Juuzou hissed, and Hideyoshi snapped his jaw shut, though his eyes still burned hot with unspoken rage. A cross-country journey fueled by myth was an odd yet fitting place to develop strong feelings for one another, and here stood the first trial of such a friendship.

King Arima considered Hideyoshi’s words, much to his surprise. “He’s right. In all the years you have served me, Touka, you have not made me very happy.”

Touka whirled on him, jaw dropped. “Your _Majesty—”_

“Maybe I shall see if an incompetent magician can entertain me where a practiced one cannot.” He seemed pleased with his deduction, and though Ken couldn’t tell if he was eager to test his theory, he suspected the jaded king was at least hopeful.

“You fool,” Touka cursed. She raised her arms, and a storm of purple smoke writhed around her. A wind kicked up, and a strong magic coursed through the formerly stagnant air of the king’s tomblike throne room. “I will _not_ be shunted so easily!”

Shuu quickly leapt in front of Ken, supposedly shielding him from whatever wrath Touka could rain. But Ken wasn’t without his own magic, even as a human—he could feel some form of it gathered around him rather than coursing through him, but he could still direct it. Its trace was faint and it certainly wouldn’t be very powerful, but a ghoul’s magic was terrifying regardless. He stepped forward, and to the resentment of his headache, directed a portion of magic towards Touka, who flinched in response to the sudden influx of malice that eclipsed hers. It was the epitome of fearsomeness: a ghoul’s magic aided by a human’s fury. But the fury itself wasn’t for Touka; it was for the king who sat with a stone’s expression as he watched the championed wizard prepare to unleash her anger.

The unnoticed battle ceased, and Touka broke into another mad cackle. She looked from Ken to Arima, then pointed at the king as she spat, “You, _Your Majesty!_ You have let your doom in by the front door!” This seemed to pique his interest, and the man leaned the slightest bit forward. “But, it will not _depart_ that way…!” Touka continued. Whatever else she tried to say was interrupted by spontaneous, miserable laughter. Finally, with a final, mocking farewell, Touka disappeared into the thick smoke she’d arrived in.

In the heavy silence that followed, Ken returned to the window, brushing past Shuu as he did. King Arima glanced at him, then stood to join him at the window. Ken felt his dying skin prickle with unease as the king approached, but he stood fast nonetheless.

“What are you looking at?” Arima asked, though it was more a question of why as the only thing Ken could see from the window was the timeless sea. He decided he wouldn’t answer the king’s hidden inquiry.  
“The sea.”

Arima nodded. “Yes, the sea. There are not many I things I can stand to look at for long, other than the sea…”

Ken didn’t reply. He didn’t want to look the man in the eye—he felt that Arima would know. He would surely know that he stood before a ghoul, just like the ones he kept for himself at the end of the earth, wherever that may be. 

“Well…very well. I will have Prince Shuu show you all to your rooms,” Arima said, and though his stare lingered on Ken, he left the room with haste.

Shuu approached Ken then, and Ken felt his face heat in a tumult of uncharacterized and unfamiliar emotions. He avoided eye contact with the prince as well, but for reasons that seemed to be the polar opposite of those he hadn’t looked at Arima for. 

“May I show you to your room?” he asked. If Ken had only looked then, he would have seen a similar expression of flighty uncertainty etched between the prince’s brows and on the shiver of his lips. Instead, Ken nodded dully before rejoining Hideyoshi and Juuzou at the door.

As all ghouls don’t, Ken had never felt the blossoming of love before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> arima loves interrupting people & i totally switched up hide and juuzou's roles while writing this so i had to go back and edit everything again, lmao...serves me right for not writing for an eternity tbh!!


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